Saturday, October 13, 2007

The past two weeks have not been, as they would say in Japan, a Positive Experience. I was overwhelmed by the incredible number of readers who took the time to post condolences. Reading these comments made me realize that there are an astonishing number of lovely, caring people out there. Truly, the kindness of strangers has helped me cope with grief, pain, and an acute case of grafting dyslexia.

I have been wracking my brain for a way to give all of you a tangible thank-you. No results so far, but I promise to keep wracking until something turns up that will delight all your hearts and minds. If any of you have a bright idea, please let me know. And no, you can't have my stash, husband, cat, or Nieblings.

The Silver Lining

Mind-numbing knitting was just what I needed this week. It took me two months to knit two border edges, and three days to knit the remaining two sides. Black Window Spider King is finished and will be blocked tomorrow.

I did have a large crash-and-burn at the end, however. After 19.5 hours of trying to follow several pages of meticulously written directions for grafting the two border edges (a whopping total of 20 stitches), I finally realized that the directions omitted the final, important step. As written, the instructions don't work.

I will post my one-paragraph-no-pain-no-pictures-needed border grafting method this week, I promise. Even Roy, who has some difficulty distinguishing a knit stitch from an armadillo, can do it.

No-No Needles

And a last crabby note. I finally received some of the new KnitPicks wooden needle tips. The points, joins, and finish are perfection. But I do not want to meet the person who decided that knitting with purple, yellow, and green needles festooned with magenta cables would be a soothing experience.

I confess that my intention, after seeing the catalog pictures, was never to actually knit with these things. Nope. They are merely organ donors. My collection of Holz & Stein ebony double-points will be transplanted into the magnificently engineered connectors, giving me a exquisite set of H&S interchangeables. Never fear, the pop-art needle tips will begin new, productive lives as dibbles, swizzle sticks, and canape skewers.

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comments:

hi Fleegle - glad to see you posting again!! No need for tangible thanks, you already post so much useful information (but if you want to wander over to japaneseknitting, we're having some problems with an interesting/aggravating scarf construction). If I can't have your cat, husband, etc. can I borrow Harry for a while?

Write us another story! (as if you need motivation for that, I'm sure...) I'm hoping that you're on the mend in all areas now.I have the wooden knitpicks needles in the smallest two sizes of dpns only (0 and 1, my favorites for socks and mittens) and I don't find them too psycho-delic in those sizes - the colors kind of mush together into a purply-red. But I do like your idea quite a bit; too bad I don't have a bunch of extra Holz & Steins sitting around... :)

Dear Judith--Harry is packing his Altoid tin as we speak. He has only a few demands:1. Breakfast in bed everyday. He really enjoys expensive organic Eggs Benedict. Prime steak for dinner is a plus.2. Surround-sound for his karaoke machine. He prefers Eurotrash metal pop, but will settle for New Age Freak.3. Unlimited access to extra-fine cashmere yarn. And, of course, several laptops, an extra-wide printer, and a couple of iPods.

oops, sorry, I thought you were a member - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/knittinginjapan/joinfor the scarf problem, and http://www.knittingelegance.blogspot.com/ for the groups' blog, nothing posted on there about the scarf.

As to Harry's requirements, I am sadly lacking in surround sound, but will see what I can come up with. Judith

nice to hear from you.... thanks for your kind comments on my blog... lookign forward to seeing the spider king and I don't really fancy multicoloured needles either... I daren't show DH he would think it was sacrilidge colouring bits of wood!!!

So, Fleegle, do you not recommend the Knit Pick needles. I so want a set and have even told my husband that they are a top priority on my wishlist for Christmas. I love the colors. It seems, in my old age, I am drawn to color.

Well, you *could* post that baby bootee pattern you teased us with a while back...I'm undecided about those new needles. They perform beautifully, but OMG do not use them with bright turquoise yarn (I speak from experience).And, fleegle's husband, you would be at the top of the list, but fleegle respects that most of us are law-abiding citizens who live in states/countries that don't allow us more than one husband. Stash, on the other hand... :)

I'm glad you are not planning to knit with the psychadelic wood needles from Knit Picks. I had begun to fear for your sanity until you made it clear it was "transplant" time again! I don't want your Niebling patterns, I want to see you knit them! Good to hear from you!

How do you get those tips off. I have a few Holtz and Stein dpns and have either broken 1 or lost one. What a good way to keep them knitting. I have the Knitpics options, but can seem to get the tips off!

Dear Josette--I used two rubber jar openers and just twisted the tips. They popped right out. On the size 0 that broke, I drilled out the wood with a Dremel and a tiny drill bit. (Clamp the needle before drilling).